The Whitley County Board of Health voted on several items at its latest regular meeting, including the approval of holiday bonuses for staff and an update to the health department’s zero tolerance drug use policy to not accommodate the use of medical cannabis.
The board unanimously voted to approve a holiday bonus of $400 for each full-time employee of the health department who has been employed for at least six months. Those who are employed part-time or are full-time employees who have not yet worked for six months will receive a prorated amount as a holiday bonus.
Public Health Director Marcy Rein told the board that the total amount for holiday bonuses would equal up to $16,376 and some change, which is a decrease compared to last year’s total of $17,450. The amount of the holiday bonuses per employee is the same this year as it was in 2023, but there are a few less staff members now than there were 12 months ago.
The board also voted to update the health department’s existing drug free workplace policy to not accommodate the use of medical cannabis. Rein explained that, after consultation with legal counsel, a recommendation was made to opt out of permitting medical cannabis use among employees of the health department because “it could cause a lot of complications for us for us as a quasi-governmental agency.”
Rein said that the policy will apply to “anyone representing or conducting business on behalf of the health department,” and would apply to duties being performed both on-and-off the premises of the health department building.
Other Board of Health business:
– Rein informed the board that one case of pertussis (whooping cough) has been documented in a student from Whitley County Middle School, and that the school has sent a letter home to parents making them aware of the situation. She said that the school is working closely with the health department and a regional epidemiologist in order to hopefully avoid any potential spread of the illness. She noted that whooping cough is very contagious, and that it can be especially dangerous to infants and persons with certain respiratory conditions.
– The board voted to adopt a new policy governing the use of generative AI programs by health department employees in the production of certain types of documents. The policy states that the use of generative AI will be allowed as long as it complies with all applicable laws, policies and security guidelines, and that the expectation is for the user to always adequately review documentation for accuracy. Rein said that many programs used by the health department now have some level of generative AI ability built into them, which led to her asking the board to address the issue now. She said the policy could be modified in the future if the need arises.
– The board supported an update to the health department’s workplace violence prevention policy to further define what constitutes workplace violence, establish roles and responsibilities for reporting, and provide direction for anyone responding to reports. Rein said that part of this update is to specifically address cases that could occur in a home health care situation. She also added that all health department staff will have taken online de-escalation training by the end of the year.
– Finally, Rein presented the board with copies of the latest audit reports for both the county’s public health taxing district and the health department itself. She said the audit findings were consistent with previous years in both cases, with a clean opinion from the accounting firm who performed the audits. The board voted unanimously to accept the audits as presented.
